


Key To Your Lock

by startrekkingaroundasgard



Series: Ladies of Marvel Bingo 2020/21 [3]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Bingo, Breaking and Entering, F/F, Fluff, Meet-Cute, Neighbors
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-20
Updated: 2020-10-20
Packaged: 2021-03-09 02:01:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 962
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27116482
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/startrekkingaroundasgard/pseuds/startrekkingaroundasgard
Summary: Maria goes back to her apartment to find someone trying to break into her neighbour’s house.Square: meet cute
Relationships: Maria Hill/Reader
Series: Ladies of Marvel Bingo 2020/21 [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1906972
Kudos: 33





	Key To Your Lock

The stairs creaked beneath Maria’s tired footsteps, her heavy legs moving on their own accord as she ascended the crappy building in which she lived. Fighting off a group of highly trained ninjas armed with plasma swords would have been less work on the calves – and she spoke from experience.

God she wished the landlord would fix the lift. She stumbled at the thought, barely catching herself on the peeling handrail, her exhausted mind open to the invasive thoughts she often fought to keep away. 

See, Maria wasn’t normally the wishing sort of person; she knew what she wanted and she went after it with all the passion and determination she could muster. However, since the fall of SHIELD and the collapse of the Avengers initiative – was this the second or third time? She could no longer remember – Maria found herself drifting for the first time, waiting for the next global threat to kick her back into gear.

Until then she was stuck here with limited funds as the government audited her, again, and withheld pretty much all of her resources in the search for any ties she may have had with SHIELD or Coulson’s supposed army of Inhumans. All Maria wanted was a simple life, a comfortable place to rest her head and a clear enemy to shoot at. That wasn’t too much to ask.

Rounding the final corner, Maria stilled suddenly. There was something crouched by her neighbour’s door and the unmistakable sound of someone picking a lock grated on her nerves. Ten seconds of intense concentration passed before the lock-picker swore, the tumblers no doubt resetting.

This left Maria uncertain of how to proceed. The person was clearly an amateur; she herself had managed to pick the lock to her apartment on multiple occasions in half the time, often drunk or bleeding out on the floor – the two coincided quite a lot these days. So, that left her with the question: were you a burglar or had you simply lost your keys?

She didn’t recognise you but then Maria barely spent any time in the building and wandered in and out at strange hours to purposefully avoid interaction with other residents. An old spy habit, or maybe she was just less social than she remembered.

Your identity wasn’t a difficult conclusion to reach. You were dressed for an office, probably some kind of secretary or HR job. Nothing that paid amazingly well from the knock off label on your coat, although that shouldn’t have been a surprise given that you were living here of all places.

The insides of your bag were strewn across the floor around your feet, tossed out in a frantic attempt to find something – your keys – and there was an overall air of defeat radiating from your hunched form that no self respecting criminal would dare to contemplate.

She stepped up onto the landing and said, “You could always call the landlord instead of damaging the lock like that. Or, if you’re trying to burgle the place, the fire escapes lead straight to the windows. Much easier.”

“Oh!” You jumped to your feet and awkwardly shoved the paper clips into your pocket. “This isn’t – I’m not – It’s my apartment. I think I left my keys at work.” You introduced yourself, gesturing vaguely at the door behind you. “Three-A. That’s me.”

The unspoken who are you? hung in the air and Maria reluctantly returned the nicety. “Three-B. Maria.”

For some reason, you smiled at her. “It’s nice to meet you, Maria.”

Normally, she would have found that hard to believe but there was something in your voice that left her wondering. It was so rare to find a genuinely decent person, especially in her line of work. The silence grew thick but only slightly uncomfortable so Maria glanced over your shoulder at the locked door and said, “Let me.”

You dropped the paper clips into her hand and Maria bent them into the proper shapes with practised ease. She crouched down and insert the first into the lock then expertly released the tumblers. It took a whole seven seconds – not that she was counting, of course – to release the lock.

Arms folded across your chest, you looked her over in a way that wasn’t entirely innocent. “Should I be concerned that you did that so quickly?”

“I’ve had a lot of practise.” A heat sparked through her chest as Maria met your gaze in the shadows, the possibility of something flaring between you both. That would be a mistake, though. Handing back the bent clips, Maria smiled stiffly and muttered, “Good night.”

“Wait! I don’t… You wouldn’t fancy a drink or something, would you? As a thank you?”

Every instinct in her body told her that this was a bad idea. It was easier for you both if you stayed strangers, people who passed in the hallway with nothing more than an insincere smile and went about your separate lives. Maria had already lost too much; she couldn’t face growing close to you and then adding you to the ever growing list of broken things left behind in her wake.

And yet, there you were, sweet and normal and so far from the life she was both desperately trying to avoid and clamouring after. Pocketing her keys, Maria sighed. “I guess I could use a drink.”

You practically lit up like a star, blindingly adorable in a way that actually took her breath away. “Yay! I mean -” You laughed nervously, not bothering to dig yourself a deeper hole. Maria helped collect your things from the landing and you stepped inside together where one drink soon turned into many and, for the first time in months, the gaping loneliness in Maria’s heart didn’t feel so all consuming.


End file.
